The
connection between the importance of the preaching and the church is
clear. Only the church is called to preach the gospel. When the gospel
is preached in the church, Christ is proclaimed. By the proclamation of
Christ, the gospel is the power that draws men to Christ to seek in Him
their salvation. Those who are God’s elect come to Christ, and in coming
to Him they are made stones in the temple of God, a temple built on Jesus Christ the cornerstone…
The preaching so draws the people of God that they come to Christ Who is proclaimed in the gospel. To come to Christ is a theme that runs through the New Testament and implies several important truths. Christ calls through the gospel and says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28. Christ calls His sheep by name (John 10:3); that call of the gospel is heard by Christ’s sheep and they come to Him and follow Him.
Coming to Christ is not coming in a geographic sense. It was not geographic even during the days the Lord was upon earth. Coming to Christ is believing on Him and finding in Him deliverance from the misery of sin, death, and hell.
Christ’s call is not indiscriminate. It never is. Even the external call of the gospel is not completely indiscriminate, for only those whom God sends the gospel hear the outward call. The call of the gospel as an internal call comes to the elect alone, who are Christ’s sheep. They are laboring and heavy laden with the burden of sin. Christ calls the elect by the gospel, which proclaims Him as the only way of salvation, and Christ calls by His Spirit in the hearts of His people.
The call is not only particular, but also efficacious. It is powerful to draw. Those whom it draws come to Christ. All whom the Father gives to Christ come to Him (John 6:39), but they come because the Father draws them (v.44). They come to Christ drawn by the Father, but drawn in such a way that they come eagerly and willingly, for they are aware of their sins and long for the salvation found in Christ alone.
Herman Hanko
A Pilgrim’s Manual, pp.108-109
The preaching so draws the people of God that they come to Christ Who is proclaimed in the gospel. To come to Christ is a theme that runs through the New Testament and implies several important truths. Christ calls through the gospel and says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28. Christ calls His sheep by name (John 10:3); that call of the gospel is heard by Christ’s sheep and they come to Him and follow Him.
Coming to Christ is not coming in a geographic sense. It was not geographic even during the days the Lord was upon earth. Coming to Christ is believing on Him and finding in Him deliverance from the misery of sin, death, and hell.
Christ’s call is not indiscriminate. It never is. Even the external call of the gospel is not completely indiscriminate, for only those whom God sends the gospel hear the outward call. The call of the gospel as an internal call comes to the elect alone, who are Christ’s sheep. They are laboring and heavy laden with the burden of sin. Christ calls the elect by the gospel, which proclaims Him as the only way of salvation, and Christ calls by His Spirit in the hearts of His people.
The call is not only particular, but also efficacious. It is powerful to draw. Those whom it draws come to Christ. All whom the Father gives to Christ come to Him (John 6:39), but they come because the Father draws them (v.44). They come to Christ drawn by the Father, but drawn in such a way that they come eagerly and willingly, for they are aware of their sins and long for the salvation found in Christ alone.
Herman Hanko
A Pilgrim’s Manual, pp.108-109
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